No
by Hououza
Summary: Formerly a one shot. Now following a wave of inspiration extended. SA pairing.
1. No:1

No: 1 - Prologue

Disclaimer: I do not own Evangelion or any of the characters they are the property of their respective creators. Please be aware that no profit is being made from this work of fan fiction.

Third impact had passed, the souls of humanity had united as one when their AT fields had been dissolved, and now only two remained. One Ikari Shinji and one Soryu Asuka Langley. At present, the latter lay on her back, gazing up at the stars, her eyes red and swollen from her tears, until at last she could cry no more. Shinji had left her and now she was truly alone…

It had started less than a week before; she had awoken lying on this same beach. Clad in the remains of her plug suit, bandages over her left eye and all down her left arm, covering the injuries she had sustained during her battle against the MP Evas. It was then that he had come upon her, filled with a terrible rage he had straddled her and wrapped his hands about her throat. He had begun to squeeze, slowly cutting off the vital supply of oxygen to her lungs, strangling her. It was strange; those same hands that had reached out to her when she had been falling into the depths of the volcano during their failed attempt at catching an angel…those hands that had reached out to try to hold her…those hands so steeped in blood that it could never be washed away. He had tried to reach out to her for so long despite all she had done to him but now because of that those same hands would bring her death…

As if controlled by some will other than her own, her right hand reached up and brushed itself softly against the cheek of the boy. At the sudden contact the pressure on her neck ceased as his hands uncoiled from around her neck and he collapsed forward, sobbing softly against her chest…now as she recovered some of her senses a wave of bitterness welled up inside her, stupid boy! He couldn't even kill her right!

"Pathetic"

With all the strength she had left, she used her good arm to push him off from on top of her, unable to bear his presence any longer. She tried to lift herself into a sitting position but their was not enough strength left, she got a little way then simply collapsed back onto the damp sand and lay there starring up at the stars…

As the cold of night descended Asuka began to shiver, the remains of her plug suit giving little protection against the cold. She turned her head to the side, Shinji lay exactly as he was before, facing the skies with a vacant expression etched onto his features…it was now as she studied him more closely she noticed that he bore no injuries, whilst her left eye and arm were bound he looked as he had when she had last seen him. Once more, a vengeful wrath rose inside her. Using the strength she had gained from resting, she used her good arm to pull herself closer to him, as her hand accidentally brushed up against his arm she noticed how warm it was. Fuelled by the cold and desperation her anger melted away and instead of striking out at him she pulled herself closer, eventually positioning herself on top of him. Even now she could barely feel the warmth, she tore at his shirt desperately trying to get rid of the obstruction between her and the source of the heat, when it was open she began on his trousers and underwear…after a little while he lay there completely naked, but still she could not get warm…the plug suit! As quickly as she could she peeled away the final barrier separating their bodies. Now as she lay naked atop him a twisted thought entered her mind, why not defile him in the same way she had been by the 15th! Shifting her body slightly she began her revenge…

"Uhhh! Ahhh!"

Her cries echoed into the night as she reached her peak. Satisfied in a way she had never known could be possible she collapsed onto him and fell into a deep sleep. The next few days passed in a similar fashion, each day Shinji would venture into the city to find food for them and then during the night she would make use of his body before falling asleep on top of him. On the sixth night however something changed…

As Asuka once again tried to pull herself on top of him, he pushed her away…

"No."

That was the first word he had spoken to her since third impact had commenced, his voice held none of the conflicting emotions it once had, now it was a level monotone, not dissimilar to that of the first child. He stood then; turning his back to her, beginning to walk away until his form merged with the darkness…

In the time that followed, she simply laid there, images flashing through her mind. All of the times when Shinji had tried to be nice to her, all the times he had tried to help her despite her constant beatings of him and the verbal abuse. Even after everything she had done, he had still tried to help her…tears came then, all at once they burst forth, her vow never to cry again after her mother's suicide undone in an instant. She needed him…loved him, and because of her pride it was now far too late…

Hours passed and the first rays of sunlight began to appear on the horizon, she had fallen asleep and awoke to a shadow blocking out a segment of the light…he had come back! Now she would be able to tell him! Now was her chance to fix all that was wrong between them! It was then; when she looked up at him, she saw the object hanging loosely in his right hand…

The gun was simple in its design, unadorned by any form of decoration, a military design, most likely taken from what remained of one of the soldiers of the JSDF who had attacked the Geo Front. She opened her mouth to say something but the words died on her lips…this was what she deserved after all, now at least she would be free of this pain, free from the look in those eyes…

She closed her eyes, braced for the pain and when it did not come, she opened her eyes once more and stared up at him…he held the gun at his chest, the barrel pointing directly at his heart. For an instant he glanced down at her and their eyes met, frantically she tried to stand, to reach him before it was too late…

The gunshot rang out, the sound tearing apart the silence of the world and through his heart…

"No."

_Chapter preread by That Other Guy_


	2. No:2

No: 2 - Goodbye

Disclaimer: I do not own Evangelion or any of the characters they are the property of their respective creators. Please be aware that no profit is being made from this work of fan fiction.

Asuka lay beside his silent form. She had wept until the tears would no longer come, her fists pounding silently against his chest as she called out for him, begging him not to leave her all alone again. The bullet had gone straight through his heart, death had been near instantaneous. He had been dead before he reached the ground, her cries falling only on the deaf ears of his corpse. When the tears had ended she had steeled her resolve and lifted the pistol from his cold, dead grasp before placing it against her chest as Shinji had done only moments before.

"Soon…"

She whispered the single word as her eyes slid closed and as her finger gently pulled back the trigger…only the sound of Asuka's body striking the cold, damp earth broke the silence that followed. The gun was empty, the only bullet being the one that now lay inside his heart…now both physically and emotionally exhausted she fell into a troubled sleep.

She awoke breathing heavily, shaken by her nightmare. Third Impact had come and only she and Shinji remained; then, even he had been taken away from her and she was truly alone in that broken world…as her eyes slid open and vision began to focus on the blood red sky above she knew it was not a dream. Once again, the tears came as she wept for all that she had lost…

A figure watched the crying girl silently. He stood floating just above the surface of the red sea, short grey hair blowing in the gentle breeze as his red eyes traced the two figures that lay upon the beach. After a little while the girl's tears subsided and she raised her head to gaze out at the ocean. When she saw the figure there her eyes widened, filled with a mixture of panic and fear she desperately tried to move away from him, hands clawing at the soft sand, trying to escape that gaze that mirrored back her guilt.

Ignoring her reaction he began to float forwards. As he reached the waters edge he floated down so that his feet pressed gently into the soft sand. He walked forwards, now moving towards the second figure, the lifeless form of the one who had once been his friend.

"Shinji…"

His voice was filled with an insurmountable sadness as his eyes swept over the silent form of what had been the third child. Once he had given up his life so that the boy could live and now he had returned to life while the other laid in deaths cold embrace…the irony of this was not lost on him.

"Now I understand…what it is to be human."

He stood there in silence for a moment longer before turning his attention back to the girl. She had not moved all this time, her hands still grasping at the sand blindly yet no longer was she moving away. Her expression had changed now, the look of blind terror that had consumed her eyes now replaced with a mixture of guilt and uncertainty with only traces of fear evident. He knew she had been the cause of Shinji's untimely death, it had been her actions that had driven the boy to the depths of despair such that he took his own life; yet, he bore her no malice. As her soul opened up to him, he finally understood…the reason why they had been drawn together and why she was now drawn to him, her soul was the same as Shinji's…

"Asuka Langley Soryu. That is your name is it not? Shinji often though of you."

Her eyes shifted their focus onto his as her lips parted slightly to let out a whispered reply.

"Who are you?"

"Some people know me as Tabris, the seventeenth Angel. To Shinji I was simply Kaworu, the Fifth Child and his friend."

Asuka's mind began working double time. During Third Impact, as all the memories of all of humanity were shared, she had seen what appeared to be one of Shinji's memories. This boy…this Angel…had been held in the palm of Unit-01. He had gone to Central Dogma to initiate Third Impact by joining with Adam. Shinji, the only remaining pilot, had been sent to stop him. She could remember his emotions as if they had been her own, the swirling conflict within him as he was torn between his duty and his friend. She could feel the pain that had coursed through him as Kaworu had asked him to end his life so that humanity might be spared. The guilt and sadness that had torn his heart when the great armoured fist of Unit-01 had finally closed…

"…He killed you…"

"Yes, it is true that Shinji was forced to destroy my physical body. Yet, my soul remained."

A brief speck of hope ignited in her heart. Perhaps he could…

"…Can Shinji?"

The silver haired boy shook his head sadly, a terrible sadness evident on his face.

"No. His soul was weak after separating himself from instrumentality and bringing you both back. When he died his soul shattered…"

Once more Asuka could feel the tears overwhelming her; by her actions she had driven him to his breaking point, she had caused him to take his life and now because of her he was gone forever. She fell to the ground weeping heavily, her fists pounding against the soft sand as she silently cried out his name over and over as despair overcame her once more.

Kaworu looked down at the girl. Once more he was reminded of how alike the two were. In that brief moment he came to a decision; he knew what he must do…

"Asuka."

Her head rose slightly at the sound of her name. Her eyes were red once again as tears continued to stream down her face caressing its curves as they fell silently away and were absorbed into the sand.

"There may be no way to bring Shinji back now but there might be a way to bring you to him."

Once more the embers of hope that had burned so briefly flared once more; in that moment Asuka knew she would do anything to be by his side once more, no matter the cost…

"I can send your soul back, back to before all this came to be."

"Please…"

She was going to plead with him but a simple gesture moved her to silence; he was not yet done in his explanation.

"There is great risk in this, I cannot guarantee to what time you will be returned. You may arrive to late or too early, that is something I have no control over thus you may go further back than you would wish."

For a brief moment an image of finding her mother hanging from the ceiling holding the doll that was supposed to be her flashed in her mind. There was a chance that she would be forced to relive that moment, the one that had driven her to close herself of and ultimately her abuse of Shinji and his eventual suicide. She shook her head trying to force away the memory; it didn't matter anymore, she would face anything no matter how terrible just to feel his embrace once again.

"Please…I am ready."

The boy nodded in affirmation; his whole body beginning to glow and soon Asuka was enveloped in light. Slowly she could feel her physical self falling away as her soul was drawn outwards. Once the separation was complete she began to feel something tugging at her, pulling her backwards into the rift. She turned her gaze down at Shinji's body once more, looking upon her love for what would be the last time in this world.

'Soon…'

Then she could think no more as a great wave of pain crashed over her as she was finally pulled wholly into the rift and cast adrift into the seas of time and space.

As the light faded, Kaworu dropped to his knees, blood now flowing from his eyes, ears, nose and mouth. He looked one last time at the body of his only love, whispering to him with his final breath.

"Goodbye Shinji."

Finally the seventeenth Angel fell face first onto the sand as his body began to decay. Skin and bone dissolving like liquid into the sand now that the light of his soul had been extinguished.

_Chapter preread by That Other Guy_


	3. No:3

**No: 3 - Reunion**

Disclaimer: I do not own Evangelion or any of the characters they are the property of their respective creators. Please be aware that no profit is being made from this work of fan fiction.

The first thing she noticed was the smell, no longer was the air filled with the blood like scent of LCL but instead the fresh crisp air and trace of salt one would expect from a normal sea. Her ears picked up the gentle lapping of the waves and the cries of gulls overhead. A dull rumbling being the only clue to the fact she was not on a beach somewhere. Then she became aware of new sounds, voices…

With each moment they seemed to be drawing closer. She could now begin to make out individual people amongst the chatter. The first one she recognised was clearly male, it took her few moments but she identified it as being that of the first of the three stooges, Toji Suzahara. The next voice was quite different, male once again but this one was raised in excitement, constantly naming things around him all of which seemed to be of a military nature…

Kensuke Aida 

Two of the stooges…sea air…the pieces began to fall into place in Asuka's mind. Her memory reached back to a day long ago, the day she had finally reached the waters of Japan, the day the Gaghiel had attacked and the day she had met him…

"Well Shinji?"

The cheerful tones of her former guardian rang in her ears for a moment before she heard his quiet reply

"It's ok, I guess."

She felt her heart skip a beat at the sound of his voice. She snapped her eyes open, and then narrowed them slightly to adjust for the bright sunlight. The metal deck of the aircraft carrier, 'Over the Rainbow' stretched out before her. A group of four figures approaching her, one of them running and chasing an object caught by the wind. In that instant her breath caught in her throat, she saw him standing there, beside the lavender haired major, wearing that same expression she had seen on his face long ago, when they had been on the beach.

For an instant the memories resurfaced and she once again watched as he pulled the trigger, as his lifeless body dropped to the ground, his eyes like two endless hollow pools…shaken by the memory Asuka could hold herself back no longer, she had to touch him, to feel his warmth against her and know this was not a dream…

"Shinji!"

Toji had been chasing after his cap when the wind had caught it. He almost got a hold of it when he was bowled over by a blur of red and yellow and ended up sitting on his behind on the deck. Luckily his arm had snagged the offending article of clothing but unfortunately he had twisted such that he was now sitting on it. He was about to mutter some choice curses when he heard someone shout

"Shinji!"

Unsure who exactly was calling for his friend he turned his attention back towards the others. What he saw made his jaw drop…there was a girl hugging Shinji tightly and…was she kissing him!

In the scant months since he had joined Nerv Shinji had faced many things; a reunion with his estranged father, becoming the pilot of Eva Unit-01, Rei Ayanami, the enigmatic pilot of Unit-00, the Angels. None of this prepared him for what was to happen now. He had been minding his own business, waiting to meet this new Eva pilot Misato had mentioned when someone called out his name.

"Shinji!"

He looked up to see a girl with long flowing red hair wearing a yellow sundress running towards him.

"Who…?"

His words were cut off as the girl closed the distance between them before wrapping her arms around his neck and covering his lips with her own. This was the second time in his life Shinji had been kissed by a girl. However, whereas the last time it had been a simple gesture made with the innocence of youth, this one was charged with desire and a longing Shinji could not comprehend. Why would a girl he had never met before be kissing him like this?

In the meantime Misato, Kensuke and Toji simply stared at the two, unable to believe their eyes. Both boys' thoughts were along the lines of.

'Who's the babe? And why is she kissing Shinji?'

Meanwhile Misato already knew the answer to the first question, however the second was troubling her.

Asuka hasn't met Shinji before, has she? 

Her thoughts interrupted just then by a familiar voice.

"Hello Katsuragi."

Misato's mind at that moment seemed as if it had undergone a train wreck. All her trains of thought had been derailed by that voice…

"Kaji…what are you doing here?"

She barely bothered to disguise the anger in her words. Her teeth were gritted and her eyes guarded. He was not who she wanted to have to deal with right now, she still had to deal with the rather forward pilot of Unit-02 and the boy she currently had in a lip lock.

Kaji had been expecting that reaction from his former lover. He had been inwardly thrilled when he found out he would have a chance to see her again, yet, his work had to come first, being a spy was a dangerous business and he didn't want to risk getting her involved. He didn't want to lose the only woman he had ever truly loved a second time…

"I'm here as Asuka's guardian. Do you know where she is by any chance?"

Misato's simply gestured over her shoulder with her thumb. Kaji stepped around to get a glimpse of what she was pointing at and froze in his tracks. Asuka had her arms wrapped around some boy and seemed to be kissing him so hard Kaji couldn't held but wonder if it wouldn't take the jaws of life to pull them apart. He looked at the boy a bit harder, a flicker of recognition flaring in his mind.

_Ah! That's Shinji Ikari, the pilot of Unit-01._

For the life of him, he couldn't figure out why the heck Asuka was kissing the boy but as it seemed the lad was fast running out of air he decided to make his presence known.

"So, I see you've already met the Third Child Asuka."

At the sound of his voice Asuka finally broke the kiss and turned to look at him. Shinji had a look like a deer caught in the headlights and did not respond. Kaji noted that although Asuka had stopped kissing the boy she did not remove her arms from around his neck and remained leaning up against him

"Yes, isn't he cute?"

Asuka then sighed softly and began to rest her head against Shinji's chest. Both adults could only watch in awe, neither one knowing what to say. Seeing their chance the two other stooges, who had kept silent all through this, decided to make their presence known once again.

"Oi! Shinji! Why didn't you tell us?"

"Yah! You never said nothin' about having a girlfriend!"

Shinji stared at his two friends with a blank expression.

"But I don't…"

Shinji was cut off for the second time that day when Asuka lifted her head to silence him with a quick kiss. While he was still recovering from the shock she reluctantly unwrapped her arms from around him and tuned to face the two boys.

"Guten morgan! I am Asuka Langley Soryu, pilot of Evangelion Unit-02 and Shinji's girlfriend. I've been in Germany for a while so we haven't seen each other in a few months so if you don't mind we have a lot catching up to do."

Both boys blinked in surprise as their brains frantically tried to process everything that the girl had just told them.

"Erm…ok."

"Thank you."

Asuka turned back to Shinji before taking his hand in hers and beginning to lead him away. As they passed Misato and Kaji the two adults seemed to recover from whatever trance they had been in and called out to the pair.

"Asuka, where are you taking Shinji?"

"To see Unit-02, try to behave while we're gone!"

Both adults flushed slightly at that comment but before they could reply Asuka had disappeared from sight, Shinji being dragged along behind.

It wasn't long before they reached the area where Unit-02 was being held. Asuka had held Shinji's hand all through the short boat trip between the aircraft carrier and the transport vessel and only now released it so he could lift the canvas for her to slip inside. He followed her a moment later and she resumed her firm grip on his hand. For the first time in what seemed like eternity, Asuka was once more face to face with Unit-02. This thing, this beast had first swallowed her mother's soul then it had taken her life. Even in death she had been bound to it…yet, when he had called her back to the world following instrumentality the bond had been severed and she was finally free. Yet, in severing her bond to Eva, a void had been created inside her, one that he had quickly filled. At first she had used him to make the emptiness go away, but as time passed she had come to realise the true nature of their bond. The same bond that had brought her back here to stand beside him now…

Perhaps that was why Unit-01 went berserk. Why it would move even when it was out of power, how it had broken out of the angel that had swallowed it and how it moved even when its pilot could not give it commands. The soul inside it was bound to him…a mother's love protecting her son…she subconsciously squeezed his hand at that thought. In this place he was yet to recall the terrible truth that Unit-01 held…the final expression of a mother's love.

All this time Shinji's had been gazing discreetly at the silent girl. His mind was still in turmoil following the kisses and he could not help but notice how beautiful she was. There was something about her that drew him like a moth to a flame; yet, as with all flames he was afraid to get burned. He felt her grip tighten briefly and couldn't help but wonder what she was thinking. Her gaze seemed to be locked on the red behemoth before them so he turned his attention towards it as well.

For an instant, something flickered in his mind. A blood red sky…a beach…someone calling out his name…a sudden pain in his chest and then…nothing. As the images faded he felt a little light headed and lost his balance. He would have fallen then if it had not been for Asuka's grip on him, sensing him about to fall she had been pulled from her contemplation and had quickly tugged him towards her, ending with him wrapped in her arms. His eyes came back in to focus and he realised her face hung millimetres from his own. For an instant he wondered if she was going to kiss him again, the memory of her soft lips against his own still fresh in his mind…

At that moment alarms began to sound, Asuka quickly broke their embrace, heading back towards the edge of the canvas. As her arms had left him Shinji was shocked to feel a small pang of regret. He felt warmth encircle his hand and a tugging sensation, he looked over to see Asuka had once again taken his hand and was now trying to pull him away.

"Come on baka! There's no time!"

"Asuka, what…?"

"An angel is attacking the fleet, we have to get ready."

Slightly confused, Shinji allowed himself to be dragged over to the edge of the holding area. He lifted the canvas so Asuka could get out and as she did so he was greeted by a most unexpected view.

"…Red…"

He flushed slightly before quickly following Asuka out, hoping that she had not noticed his slight hesitation after the impromptu show she had given him. Once they were both out she picked up a bag that had been sitting at the edge and led Shinji through a door and into a nearby stairwell.

Asuka couldn't quite keep a smile from her face. She had heard Shinji's almost whispered comment. Whereas once she would have screamed at him and called him a pervert, now it simply worked towards her cause. The greater his attraction to her the easier it would be…

Once they were both out of sight she put the bag down and opened it before beginning to rummage through its contents. She pulled out her plug suit and began to change. Meanwhile Shinji stood behind her wondering what was going on.

"Um…Asuka? What are you doing?"

"Baka. What does it look like I'm doing? I'm getting changed of course."

"B…but I'm right here!"

"So? Unlike some people I'm perfectly happy with my body."

He spluttered a bit before looking away. Part of her desperately wished that he had kept his eyes on her; yet, she knew he was too shy to do so. Sighing she finished putting on her plug suit, he did not look around till he heard the telltale rush of air and the suit moulded to her form. Now, as she turned her attentions back to the blushing boy in front of her.

"Good. Now it's your turn."

His eyes widened.

"My what?"

"You don't think I'm letting you into my Eva dressed like that do you?"

"What?"

"You weren't going to let me go out there all alone where you?"

Shinji looked down at his feet feeling rather ashamed.

"No! I…um…"

Asuka allowed a predatory grin to spread across her face.

"Good."

Shinji looked up at her.

"But what am I supposed to wear?"

Asuka continued to grin and simply held up the spare plug suit. Shinji went pale at the sight of it.

"B-but that's a female plug suit!"

"Look at it this way Shinji. It's this or naked. Your choice."

If possible, his eyes widened further before he grabbed the plug suit from out if her hand and ran down the stairs out of her sight to change. It took all of Asuka's self control not to follow him. Although in her mind she could remember seeing him naked many times, the last of which had only been a day ago for her, in this time it had never happened. This was an unprecedented opportunity for her, she was being offered a chance to see him before Third Impact and the numerous horrors of the Angels had taken their toll. She began to inch closer and closer to the corner, being careful to make no noise that might alert her pray…unfortunately as she finally reached the bottom Shinji emerged blushing heavily. She had missed her chance for now but still there would be plenty of others…

Meanwhile on the bridge Misato was attempting to take control of the situation.

"I am fully aware that this fleet is under your command admiral. However, due to the Angel attacking. You are now under Nerv's authority and that means that you will take orders from me. Is that understood?"

The old admiral simply stood there, dumbstruck.

"I'll take your silence as agreement."

That dealt with she turned her attention to the three guys behind her, all of which who were staring in disbelief.

"Kaji, I want you to take these two and get them out of here. This is no place for civilians and I don't have anyone else I can trust to get them to safety."

"But Misato!"

Both boys were silenced by the look she gave them.

"Go. Now."

"Yes ma'am!"

All three hastily exited the bridge and headed towards the chopper waiting for them on the foredeck. Once they were safely away Misato turned her attention back to the situation at hand.

"Ok, first priority is to secure the pilots. Where are the Second and Third Children?"

"Here."

A voice replied from the radio as a huge figure rose from one of the transport ships off to the left, a huge canvas tarpaulin wrapped around it in a crude imitation of a cloak.

Meanwhile, inside the entry plug of Unit-02, Shinji was feeling rather uncomfortable. When they had first, entered Asuka had told him to sit in the chair. Once he was settled, she stepped inside and seated herself in his lap, her back towards him facing the controls.

"Since you have longer arms you can just reach around me."

Shinji was about to object when he realised Asuka was ignoring him, she was busy switching the interface language to Japanese. Sighing in defeat he experimentally tried to reach his arms around Asuka to the controls. It was in doing so that he made a rather embarrassing discovery…because the controls had been set up for Asuka's smaller frame, in order to reach them he had to bend in his arms slightly. Now, usually it would not be a problem but Asuka was rather well... endowed for a girl of her age and this meant that his arms kept brushing against the undersides of her breasts.

It is at this point that it might be wise to point out the differences between the male and female plug suits. Whilst the female version has room in the chest, designed to cater to a woman's figure, The male version has space provided lower down to make room for a man's…bits. This meant that if a male pilot were, for some reason, to be forced to wear a female plug suit, he would be in some discomfort due to the restricted space down below. Now under normal circumstances this wouldn't be too big a problem, but if the pilot were to become, say, aroused, then the problem would become very, very noticeable.

Shinji was quickly finding this out the hard way as Asuka kept shifting around in his lap. Each movement caused her backside to brush up against his groin, the friction causing an age-old reaction to stir in his loins. Blood was flowing south and he was fast becoming very aware of the confines of the borrowed suit.

"Uh…Asuka? Could you stop moving around? It's making me…uncomfortable."

Asuka suppressed a smile. She knew exactly what way he was 'uncomfortable'. On one hand she wanted to continue as it might make him more receptive to her later advances if he was a little frustrated. However, on the other hand he might not be able to do anything if the confines of the suit damaged it. Finally deciding to play it safe she stop wriggling and turned her attention to the task at hand. As she opened a communications channel a familiar voice came across.

"Where are the Second and Third Children?"

"Here."

Asuka replied as she moved Unit-02 into a standing position, the canvas tarpaulin getting wrapped around Unit-02 as it moved upwards.

"Where's Shinji?"

"Here, Misato."

"Where…? Wait! You're in Unit-02 as well! Give me a visual!"

They both heard Misato call out to someone before her face appeared in a comm. window. By the look on her face she was far from pleased.

As soon as Misato had heard they were in the plug together she had gotten a sinking feeling. It was confirmed when the visual appeared and she saw Asuka sitting in the lap of a heavily blushing Shinji.

"What the hell were you thinking? The B-Type equipment is not suitable for underwater use! If you get knocked into the water, you'll be helpless!"

Asuka gave no response to Misato's statement and instead kept her attention on jumping Unit-02 from ship to ship until she finally landed on the deck of the Over the Rainbow. She reached down and attached the power cable before turning her attention back to a now fuming Misato.

"Don't worry, Shinji and I can handle it!"

That said she closed the comm. window much to Misato's protest. Asuka flicked a switch and Unit-02 tore away the canvas before unsheathing its progressive knife.

"Ok Shinji, when the Angel surfaces we will have a few seconds to take out the core. I will try and hit it while you keep us upright, ok?"

"Uh, ok."

Nodding Asuka readied herself.

"Come and get it Angel!"

As if in response to Asuka's request, the Angel leapt from the water, it's jaws wide open looking to catch Unit-02 in its gaping maw…

"Now!"

In a flash Asuka had brought up Unit-02's arm and hurled the knife right down the Angel's throat. It struck dead into the core, piercing it and causing it to crack and glow. The Angel went into spasm mid air before flopping into the water. A moment later an underwater explosion rocked the whole ship, and the Angel was no more. Asuka let go of the controls before spinning round to hug Shinji. Startled, he pulled the controls and Eva Unit-02 lost its balance and landed face up on the deck. Meanwhile, inside the pilots were in a similar position. Shinji lying face up with Asuka on top of him. He was a bit dazed and as he stared up into Asuka's deep blue eyes an idle thought crossed his mind.

_I could get used to this._

Two hours later they had pulled into Tokyo-3 harbour. Luckily Shinji had found a shower and had switch back to his original clothes. Asuka however decided to remain in her plug suit. As they disembarked, they were greeted by a couple of familiar faces.

"Shinji!"

"Hey Shin-man!"

His two friends ran over to them.

"So Shinji, what happened back there?"

Kensuke asked eagerly.

"Well…"

For the third time that day, Asuka kissing him cut off Shinji mid sentence.

"We used my Unit-02 and beat the angel. Didn't we Shin-chan?"

"Shin-CHAN!"

Both boys exclaimed.

"Well…I…uh…you see…"

Shinji had begun to back away.

"I'm going to take a shower. Have fun Shin-chan, I'll see you later…"

She leaned over and gave him a quick peck on the cheek. As she walked away Toji dashed forwards and caught Shinji in a headlock as he and Kensuke began to interrogate their unlucky friend.

"What did she mean, later?"

_Chapter preread by That Other Guy_


	4. No:4

No: 4 - Understanding

_Disclaimer: I do not own Evangelion or any of the characters they are the property of their respective creators. Please be aware that no profit is being made from this work of fan fiction._

The next day Shinji was struggling to keep his eyes open. Toji and Kensuke had been pestering him for hours, both refusing to accept his claim that there was nothing going on between him and Asuka. When he finally made it back to the apartment he was so tired he went straight to bed. Unfortunately, he spent most of the night awake, as every time he closed his eyes he was assailed by images of Asuka and memories of the way she had been pressed up against him while they were in the entry plug of Unit-02. Now he sat hunched over his desk, desperately trying to fight his body's desire to return to the land of nod…

"Good morning class."

He hadn't even noticed their teacher arrive. Hikari put them all through the usual 'Rise. Bow. Sit.' routine, Shinji only just managing it without falling over. Once he was seated again, he let his head fall to the desk and his eyes slid closed as the teacher cleared his throat before addressing the class.

"Class, we have a new student joining us today. Would you introduce yourself Miss…?"

"Sohryu."

At the sound of her voice Shinji's eyes snapped open, all thoughts of sleep gone from his mind. He gingerly lifted his head from his desk and turned his gaze to the front of the classroom. Asuka stood there, dressed in a standard girl's uniform and the neural interface clips still in her hair. Shinji couldn't help but gape slightly; the uniform really didn't do her figure justice…

"Guten Morgen! My name is Asuka Langley Sohryu. I recently transferred here from Germany where I completed my college degree. I am now attending school here to improve my Japanese language skills most of all, my kanji. I am fourteen years old, my favourite colour is red and I am the designated pilot of Evangelion Unit-02."

She now had the eyes of almost every boy in the classroom upon her, much to the consternation of the girls. She allowed herself a secret smile before zeroing on her target.

_There._

Shinji felt eyes on him and raised his eyes to meet Asuka's. She allowed her smile to grow slightly before winking at him, she had to hold back her laughter when his eyes widened in panic. By now a number of the boys had noticed their silent exchange and were glancing from Asuka to Shinji and back again trying to figure out what was going on between the two. Perhaps they knew one another? They were both Eva pilots after all…it was then Asuka spoke once again, intent on dispelling their confusion

"Oh, just one more thing I should tell you…sorry boys but I already have a boyfriend. Isn't that right…Shinji?"

The moment his name left her lips the room erupted into chaos. Practically every boy in the class had leapt from their seats and huddled around Shinji's desk. A cacophony of congratulations, questions and general cheers of excitement swamped him. There were one or two less favourable comments but the boys in question were quickly silenced by a warning gesture from Toji. Asuka noticed this and smiled.

_So the jock is useful for something after all._

As all this was going on the majority of the girls sat there in silence, generally unimpressed at the boys' behaviour. However, three girls in particular had continued to pay attention to the scene, each having a particular interest in the events unfolding. The first of these was the class representative, Hikari Horaki. When they failed to react to her verbal threats to settle down she he waded in there and began to pull some of them away by their ears. For once, Toji was not among them as she too had noticed him sticking up for Shinji.

The second was Asuka. She continued to smile at Shinji, wincing slightly at the fuss she had caused and vowing to herself that she would make it up to him later.

The third was possibly the last person anyone would have expected. Rei Ayanami had been watching the whole thing from her seat, using the reflection in the window to watch without appearing to do so. She had been surprised by the other girl's loud proclamation.

_I do not remember Ikari-kun indicating he had a girlfriend. I will ask him about this later._

Having decided her course of action, she turned her attention back to the world outside, gazing out of the window.

After a little while everyone finally returned to his or her seats thanks to Hikari. If the ear pulling wasn't enough, she had threatened anyone who didn't get back to their seat 'now' with a weeks clean up duty. The boys moved as if fires had been lit beneath them and were soon back where they belonged. Asuka however still remained at the front, waiting for a seat to be assigned to her.

"Miss Sohryu, as it appears that you are already familiar with Mr. Ikari, please take the vacant desk to his right."

Asuka readily complied, flashing Shinji another smile as she sat down. Then the lesson began and their teacher began to drone on about Second Impact as always.

Morning class seemed like an eternity for Shinji. Each moment drawn out to painful lengths until finally the lunch bell rang ending his torture. Students began to file out, eager to get some food. Shinji was getting up slowly to follow when he was grabbed from behind and pulled out of the classroom by a cluster of boys, Toji and Kensuke following closely behind intent on getting some answers but also making sure their friend wasn't hurt in the process.

Asuka watched them go with a sigh. She had expected as much…

"Miss Sohryu?"

Surprised Asuka spun round to look at the person who called her. A familiar face greeted her…

"Yes Miss Horaki?"

"I was wondering if you would like to join me for lunch? Oh, and please call me Hikari."

Asuka smiled.

"I would love to Hikari, and please call me Asuka."

"All right."

They walked out of the classroom towards the canteen chatting furiously. Once they arrived and gotten their food they sat down at a table near the back. Moments later a number of girls had gathered around them, all of them wanting to speak to Asuka. Hikari recognised a few of them, they were members of the self proclaimed 'Shinji Ikari Fan club' all of them obsessed with the quiet boy. Obviously the fact that he had a girlfriend who was also a fellow Eva pilot did not sit well with them.

"So is it true? About you and Ikari I mean."

Asuka nodded. Hikari noticed a few of the girls' clench their fists while many others looked disappointed. It seemed that he had picked up quite a following since he had come there. Of course in any such group there is always one dissenting voice.

"What do you see in him? Apart from the fact that he's an Eva pilot he's not much to look at."

Asuka bristled at the girls words, they sounded so very much like ones she had spoken herself, once.

"He's kind, considerate, polite. He always puts the needs of others before his own. He tries to take on the woes of the world because he can't stand to see anyone else suffer."

The girl simply scoffed at Asuka's words. Asuka's temper flared and she turned to face the other girl, fires of determination burning in her eyes.

"He lost his mother when he was four. His father abandoned him and left him in the care of a stranger for ten years. Then after that he called him here so he could pilot Eva and treats him as nothing more than a tool. Despite that, Shinji keeps piloting, he goes out there to fight against monsters facing his own death each time while you sit in little shelters huddling in fear. He hates the Eva, he hates to pilot it but he does it because no one else can, and every time he does and saves our lives by doing it, he gets not so much as the slightest bit of praise or thanks. You have no idea what it's like! Who are you to judge him?"

Everyone was silent as Asuka's words slowly sunk in. The girl who had a moment before been so quick to criticise now bowed her head in silent apology. None of them had ever considered what it must be like for him, they had all simply assumed that it was like driving a car or riding a bike, just a matter of knowing where all the controls were. Asuka's words had shown them a glimpse of the truth of the biomechanical behemoths and a new understanding had begun to form. Slowly the girls left, in twos and threes, quietly discussing what Asuka had said. Many of them paused to give her words of encouragement, others telling her to look after Shinji, glad to know that he had someone beside him to share the burden.

Asuka almost laughed at that. Share the burden, her? All she had ever done was add to it. In the end he had been the strong one and her weak. Their lives had been similar in a way, both losing their mothers at a young age, only to be abandoned by their fathers. The difference had been that while Asuka had clung to Eva, as a means of support Shinji had nothing. She had erected barriers around herself to block out the world, Shinji had too but his were more subtle, he simply withdrew from the world, finding solace in his music.

Despite that he had kept on fighting, seeming to draw on hidden reserves of strength that no one believed he had. Time and time again he had gone out to fight against the Angels and time and time again he had returned victorious…even after she had lost her will to live, he had kept fighting, despite the pain it caused him. Toji was nearly killed when Unit-03 was possessed, and of course Shinji blamed himself for what happened. Afterwards he left, refusing to pilot yet when the next Angel had come he returned only to become trapped inside his Eva for a month. Even after that he kept going, right up until he had been forced to kill his only remaining friend…Kaworu had been the first person he had been able to open up to since Toji was injured and Kensuke had been evacuated with the rest of the civilians. Killing the Angel boy must have been the hardest thing he had ever done and the scars it caused him would have remained for the rest of his days. Yet, when the burden of Third Impact had fallen upon him, when he had the weight of the world placed upon him, as it was given to him to choose the fate of humanity, once again he had taken the burden onto his shoulders and sacrificed himself so that others may be happy. He alone had returned to that desolate world, his only wish to be alone no more…

She had been chosen to fill that void. Of all those he had known, she was the one who came back to him. And for what? In the end she had driven to the brink of despair, had turned him into nothing more than a doll for her own amusement, and in doing so had eventually caused him to take his own life. She could feel tears burning at the corners of her eyes as she quickly tried to push away the terrible memories of his empty face…

I can't, I won't let it happen. I can't watch him die a second time… 

In the meantime Shinji was receiving a similar treatment from the boys. He was being bombarded by a whole horde of questions and was struggling to keep up.

"Where did you two meet?"

"Does she have any sisters?"

"How far have you gotten?"

Seeing his friend's discomfort Toji stepped in.

"Hey guys, cut it out. Leave him alone already."

A lot of the boys hesitated, Toji's words causing them to look more closely at Shinji. They began to see the tell tale signs, the slightly darkened areas under his eyes, the slightly enlarged veins across them. He looked worn out and not because he had been up all night with his girlfriend, more like he had been tossing and turning in a shallow sleep fraught with nightmares. Most of them backed of slightly, no longer quite so eager to question Shinji given his present condition, however, one amongst them did not back down. He moved forwards and knelt down until he was only inches from Shinji's face.

"Ikari. What's so special about you that a girl like her chose you as her boyfriend? Or is it simply because she's a freak too?"

Shinji's head snapped upwards at the boy's words. The boy stumbled backwards as Shinji's eyes met his own. No longer were they the humble blue orbs, now they were filled with a terrible emptiness, twin pits of absolute despair drawing you ever downwards towards the darkness. When he spoke his voice was no more than a whisper.

"You know nothing of her. When she was only four her mother committed suicide, Asuka was the one to find her and the doll her mother had believed was her. Had her mother not been suffering from that delusion Asuka's life would have ended there and then."

The group stood there in silence, shocked both at the sudden change in the boy but even more by his words. All of them had lost parents yet none in such a gruesome way as Shinji was describing. Even the boy who had spoken but a moment ago was stunned into silence by the horrific images that cascaded through his mind.

"Her father abandoned her not long after. All she had left was the fact she had been chosen to become an Eva pilot, the pilot of Evangelion Unit-02. She closed off her heart and swore never to cry again, she would become and adult long before her time in order to deal with the burdens that the world had placed upon her."

Shinji stopped talking before slowly falling forwards, his eyes slid shut as he did so, a single tear falling from them. Toji was the first to react; he caught Shinji before his head could strike the ground. He was glad to see that Shinji was still breathing albeit shallowly.

"Go get some help!"

No one moved, they were still in shock from Shinji's words and sudden loss of consciousness; Toji was rapidly getting angry at their behaviour.

"NOW!"

He roared, most of the boys finally snapping out of it and running of to get some help. In the meantime Toji placed his arms under Shinji's shoulders and tried to lift him, as he did so he turned his gaze on the boys that still remained.

"Come on. We have to get him to the nurses' office."

One quickly took his legs while another two supported his sides. Together they began moving towards the nurses' office, an unconscious Shinji in their grasp.

Asuka was heading back to the classroom when she saw the four boys come past. When she saw whom they were carrying, she instantly rushed over fearing the worst.

"Shinji? Shinji!"

She turned to look at Toji seeking answers in his face

"What happened?"

"He started talking strange, then he passed out."

"What was he talking about?"

Toji looked down. How could he tell her that what Shinji had been speaking about was her?

"Please!"

He lifted his head to meet her gaze and wishes he hadn't. He could see the sparkle of unshed tears at the corners of her eyes and knew he would have to tell her. Toji may have been accused of being insensitive but he still could not stand to see a girl cry.

"You."

"What?"

"He was talking about you…about your past…I'm sorry."

The look he gave her then told her everything she needed to know. He had told them…she didn't know how, but he had told them, and now everything had changed. They no longer looked at her with desire, after what she had said, she was sure it would be the same with the girls and Shinji. They had been given a glimpse into what lay beneath and the trauma that the pilots carried. She didn't know what to say or do, noticing her silence the boys started to move again, carrying Shinji away.

When they reached the nurse's office they were instructed to place Shinji on one of the beds to be examined. The other three boys left but Toji remained, Kensuke moved up beside him, he had been one of the ones to run ahead.

"Any change?"

"No."

"What was that back there?"

"I don't know."

They stood there in silence for a moment longer before a groan from the bed alerted them to the fact Shinji was regaining consciousness.

"Shinji?"

"Shin-man?"

They stepped forwards but were held back by the nurse.

"Please, give Mr. Ikari a moment to recover."

They nodded and remained still. Shinji slowly opened his eyes to gaze at the unfamiliar ceiling.

"Where?"

"You are in the nurses office Mr. Ikari."

He looked over to see one of the school nurses smiling at him. He smiled weakly at her before sitting up; it was then he noticed his two friends standing there before turning his attention back to the nurse.

"Thank you, I'm ok now."

She frowned slightly but nodded. He slung his legs off the bed and walked over to his waiting friends.

"You sure your ok Shinji? You went all weird for a little while there."

"I'm fine."

"You remember anything you said?"

He looked up and met Toji's gaze.

"No."

The other boy nodded and the three headed out and off in the direction of their classroom.

_She's just like me._

Was Shinji's last thought before the other two engaged him in a light-hearted conversation.

_Chapter preread by That Other Guy_


	5. No:5

No: 5 - Synchronization

Disclaimer: I do not own Evangelion or any of the characters they are the property of their respective creators. Please be aware that no profit is being made from this work of fan fiction.

When he got back to class he felt eyes upon him, he turned to see Asuka looking at him intently. There was something different in her gaze, almost as if she was asking a question of him but without words, it seemed that her question would remain unanswered as that instant his cell phone came to life shattering the moment…

"Hello…Misato?"

"Shinji, you and Asuka are needed at Nerv right away, Section 2 are coming to collect you. Get to the front of the school immediately."

"Misato, what's going on?"

"No time to explain, just do it."

With that, she was gone. He put his phone away and quickly turned to Asuka.

"That was Misato, we're needed at Nerv. Section 2 is going to meet us outside."

She simply nodded and the both of them made their way to the front of the classroom.

"Sensei, please excuse us but we have been called in."

The old man grumbled a little before giving his approval. Without another word, the two of them ran to the front of the school where a black Section 2 van awaited them.

Asuka said nothing on the journey, she was instantly worried about what was happening.

Why is it happening so soon? It's too early for the Angel to be attacking… 

Her thoughts were cut short when the van skidded to a halt and they were rushed inside. Immediately they were escorted to the locker rooms to change before being taken to their Eva's. Once both pilot were onboard the Eva's were loaded into transport planes for remote deployment. As they went, Misato gave the two pilots a short briefing, indicating that they would be expected to perform a series of coordinated attacks against the Angel. Asuka ignored this as she could still remember it from the first time she had faced this Angel, she knew that no matter what, they wouldn't be able to beat it like this. Yet she was reluctant to attack in the same reckless manner she had before. The humiliation the first time had been sufficient, she had no wish to repeat the incident…

"Beginning attack!"

Those words signalled them to begin. Both Eva's moved forwards, the Angel showing no reaction to their presence. Once they came within two hundred meters, however something strange happened…the Angel split down the middle, dividing in half and forming into two separate Angels. Asuka had been expecting it, but had never believed that it could perform such a split of its own accord.

"What is this crap!"

In the command centre, Misato couldn't believe what she was seeing; somehow the Angel had divided into two separate Angels. The mission parameters had not accounted for anything like this, more time was needed to figure out this latest development.

"Asuka! Shinji! Get out of there!"

"But Misato!"

"No buts Shinji, that's an order!"

Reluctantly, Unit-01 began to follow Unit-02 further up the beach away from the Angels. The creature made no move to follow them, seemingly content to remain where it was. Once both Eva's were clear, an N2 mine was detonated in hopes of at least delaying the Angels sufficiently so that a better plan could be formed.

Following their return to Nerv, Shinji, Asuka and Misato had been summoned to one of the briefing rooms. Already waiting there for them were Sub Commander Fuyutski, Dr Akagi and Ryoji Kaji. Once the two children were seated, Misato took her place in front of the Sub Commander.

"Captain Katsuragi, I hope you are aware of the consequences of your actions. Following your order, we were forced to hand over control to the UN who subsequently detonated an N2 mine. Once again, we have been forced to redraw the map and at the same time, Nerv has been further humiliated. I hope you have a suitable explanation captain."

"Yes sir. I believed that following the Angel's separation; Unit-01 and Unit-02 were not suitably equipped to handle this new development. Rather than risk sustaining damage to both units, I recalled them so that further analysis could be made. I will take full responsibility for what happened."

"Very well…we will discuss this later. Consider yourself lucky, captain, that Commander Ikari is absent at this time, he would have been far less lenient than with you than I am."

"Yes sir."

"Now, let us get to the business of sorting out how to deal with the Angel. Dr Akagi, your report?"

The blond scientist moved to the front of the room as an image was displayed on the screen.

"It seems that the N2 mine deployed by the UN succeeded in causing a 28 destruction of the target. However there is no doubt that it is already regenerating. From what we have been able to ascertain the target has two cores, both of which will need to be destroyed simultaneously to ensure its destruction. Even the slightest error between the attacks and they will both fail."

There was a brief few moments of silence as everyone digested this latest piece of information. It was broken when Kaji stood up and turned to speak to the Sub Commander.

"Sir, if I may be excused a moment I wish to discuss something with Captain Katsuragi."

"Very well, you have five minutes."

Kaji led a struggling Misato from the room and the door slid closed behind them. When the two of them returned the captain seemed to have regained her composure while Kaji seemed little worse for wear.

"Sir, we believe we have formulated a plan."

"Very well. You have five days, dismissed."

With that, he stood and left the room, Dr Akagi following shortly after.

Misato turned to the two pilots.

"Ok you two, I want you to come with us."

Sharing a nervous glance the two did as they were told and followed the two adults deeper into the depths of Nerv.

They finally arrived at a rather non descript looking door. Kaji reached over and pressed a button and it swept aside to reveal an open room with two beds in the middle of it.

"Welcome to your new quarters, you two will be living here for the next five days."

Shinji was too shocked to speak while Asuka was once again confused by the most recent change in events.

"Our goal is to have the both of you in perfect sync in five days before the Angel can recover. To this end, you will eat and sleep together as well as performing daily synchronization drills. There is no room for mistakes, all of our hopes are resting on you two."

As Misato allowed this to sink in Kaji turned to grin at Shinji.

"Oh and Shinji, don't get any ideas about trying to seduce Asuka while you two are alone together, ok?"

Shinji blushed crimson as he nodded profusely. At that moment, Asuka chose to interject.

"Shinji's too much of a baka to try. I guess I'll just have to seduce him instead…"

The two adults shared a nervous glance at Asuka's comment, for a moment wondering if leaving the two alone together was really such a good idea. Kaji decided to try to ease the tension.

"Don't worry, she's probably kidding, right?"

Asuka nodded although the predatory grin remained plastered across her face. Both adults breathed a sigh of relief before exiting and locking the door behind them. As Shinji heard the sound of the lock clicking back into place, he began to worry. His thoughts drifted back to before and despite Kaji's assurances Shinji was still unsure that Asuka had really meant it as a joke…

An hour past and Asuka decided to take a shower. This now left Shinji alone in the bedroom, lost in his thoughts. Unfortunately, he had not been able to bring his SDAT player with him so he simply waited in silence wondering what kind of synchronization drills they would under go. He didn't even notice when the sound of running water ceased and the door to the bathroom slid open.

"Shinji?"

Asuka calling his name brought him from his musings, he turned to look at her…and then wished he hadn't. Asuka had just come out of the shower and as such, her hair was still a little damp and now hung loosely down below her shoulders, presently free of the neural interface clips she seemingly always wore. She was clad only in a pink fluffy towel, the bottom edge reaching halfway down her thighs while the upper part barely covering the upper curve of her breasts. He wanted to turn away from her, to spare himself both the embarrassment and then the pain when she inevitably slapped him for being a pervert. Despite this he found he could not turn his head, his body would not respond, his eyes unwilling to look anywhere but at the vision of beauty before him.

"You like what you see, hmm?"

His heart skipped a beat, not in his wildest dreams would he have ever expected such a response.

"Maybe I should take of my towel, yes?"

Was she serious? There was no way!

'She's got to be messing with me. She's got to be wearing something underneath, this is just her teasing me again.'

Feeling confident in his conclusion Shinji steeled himself slightly. He raised his gaze to meet her own in a silent form of challenge, daring her to go ahead. Asuka simply smiled at him and never broke her gaze as she allowed the towel to fall silently to the ground…

"Oh my god…"

He sat there in shock. The discarded towel now lay on the floor at the feet of a completely naked Asuka. He closed his eyes but even then, the image of her naked form was burned into his memory, hovering tantalisingly in his mind's eye. Desperate to free himself of the image he snapped his eyes open once more only to find him self eye to eye with twin blue orbs.

"Shinji."

Her voice was barely above a whisper as she slowly leaned forwards, her eyes sliding closed. In the next instant their faces met as she captured his lips with her own…

One of the maintenance crewmembers happened to be in the Eva cages at that exact moment. He was there to perform a routine maintenance check on Unit-01's restraints systems, ever since the incident when Unit-01 had broken free on the day Shinji had arrived the checks had been switched to twice daily. For whatever reason it seemed the Commander did not wish for a repeat of that incident and so the maintenance crews had been put on extra shifts to make sure.

As he was walking along the umbilical bridge in front of the Eva's face, he suddenly felt as if something was watching him. He turned to look up at the face of the purple behemoth; finding it silent as ever, he began to turn his attention back to what he had been doing. It was as it moved into his peripheral vision that something happened…without warning its eye flared into life. The poor man was so afraid that he stumbled and fell, landing heavily on his behind. A few feet further and he would have fallen from the platform, only to meet his death hundreds of feet below. Thankful for his good fortune, he turned to look up at the Eva once again, now its eyes were silent once more and he began to wonder if he had imagined it all. He finished his checks completing his shift and departing the geofront in search of a drink.

It's not as if anyone would believe me anyway… 

In the meantime, back in the Eva cages Unit-01's eyes flickered on once again…

He could feel the soft pressure of her lips against his, her tongue rubbing against his lower lip, questing for entry. He did not know how to react, this was the second time she had passionately kissed him yet this one was different to the first…when she had kissed him before on the 'Over the Rainbow' it had been one of joy and relief, almost as if a great weight had been lifted from upon her. This time however was a different story; this kiss was fuelled by desire. He could almost taste her hunger for him as she nipped at his bottom lip with her teeth. Gently he began to open his mouth as his eyes slid closed, fully intent on returning the kiss…

It was in that instant that the images came. The same visions of a nightmare world, a naked Asuka lying on top of him, crying out his name over and over as she moved up and down. A single word kept echoing through his mind, over and over he heard it repeating in something in a voice that almost sounded like his own…

"No!"

He pulled away from her, his body shaking. His hands clawed at the fabric of the carpet as his feet tried scrambled against it. The images continued to haunt him as he moved away, never noticing the tears that streamed down Asuka's face.

Asuka was caught off guard by his sudden movement. They had been so close, she had felt him begin to reciprocate her kiss, but then all of a sudden it had gone terribly wrong…

"No!"

Her blood near froze at the sound of that word issuing from his lips. When she had last heard it that word had been the herald of his untimely death, the last thing he had spoken before his other self had pulled the trigger and ended his life. She looked over at his face and was chilled to the bone by the look of pure horror etched there, she looked into his eyes and saw that they were not looking at her but rather through, off at some terrible nightmare that only he could see…

Fear gripped her heart, once already she had been left alone in the world, now she feared he would be taken away from her once more. Unable to accept that she may well have lost her only other chance she fled the room in tears. When she finally returned he was already in asleep on his futon, facing away from her. She moved silently to the second futon and slipped inside, as she lay there gazing at his back, the tear came anew and she cried herself to sleep.

Shinji awoke with a start, he did not remember falling asleep, after he had finally recovered from the nightmares he had resolved himself to speak with Asuka and to apologise. He had gone to lie on the futon to wait for her; obviously, he had fallen asleep without realising. He heard a soft cry from behind him and turned over, Asuka was shifting about on her futon and crying out incoherently. His concern overrode his fear and he lifted him self up before carefully advancing towards her.

"Asuka? Are you ok? Asuka?"

He placed a hand on her shoulder and shook her gently. Her movements slowed and she opened her eyes to look up at him.

"Shinji?"

Her voice was no more than a whisper.

"Asuka, are you alright? You kept shifting about and crying out in your sleep."

"I was having nightmares."

Shinji took note of the haunted look in her eyes and the tearstains that marked her cheeks and wondered what could possibly have upset her so much. He nodded to her softly before starting to return to his own bed…suddenly she reached out and grasped his hand.

"Don't go."

"Asuka I…"

"Please! Only for a little while…till the nightmares go away."

Hearing the fear and uncertainty in her voice he made a decision. He moved back before kneeling beside her. She shifted slightly and let go of his hand to move the covers out of the way so he could lie down. He settled himself beside her; at once, she shifted so her head lay upon his chest before pulling the covers over them both. As she did this, he repeated his mantra over and over in his head.

_I mustn't run away. I mustn't run away._

With that thought in mind he did not flinch when her arm snaked around his waist and pulled her closer too him. He looked down at the girl lying against his chest only to find she was asleep once again.

"Goodnight Asuka."

He whispered these words to her before he too entered the land of nod.

_Chapter preread by That Other Guy_


	6. No:6

No: 6 - Training

Disclaimer: I do not own Evangelion or any of the characters they are the property of their respective creators. Please be aware that no profit is being made from this work of fan fiction.

Shinji lay deep within a troubled sleep; his hands silently grasped the bed sheets, fingers curling into fists. His head swept from side to side as rivulets of sweat made their way down his face.

Come to me… 

The voice echoed inside the darkness of his dream world, it's disembodied voice coming from both everywhere and nowhere at once. He tried to run from it, to escape the nightmarish prison in which he was held, yet no matter how far he ran, the darkness would always surround him, holding him in this endless limbo.

Shinji…come to me… 

Images flared into life for an instant, bombarding him with sights and sounds. Somehow, the scenes that flashed before him seemed familiar yet he had never experienced such things in his life. As the voice sailed out to him, once more he called out, no longer able to contain his feelings.

"What do you want from me! Who are you!"

The voice laughed softly, for an instant he felt as if a ghostly hand brushed across his cheek.

Only you my Shinji…only you… 

Gripped by a terrible blend of rage and fear he lashed out at the darkness, trying to push the phantom presence away from him.

"NO!"

His eyes snapped open as his mind fled from his dream and back into the waking world. He was shaking slightly; sweat continuing to run down his face stinging his eyes. He blinked, trying to clear it away, slowly reaching a hand to wipe his brow…as he tried to move the appendage he was met with unexpected resistance. He turned his head to the side to try and see what was wrong and was rewarded with a face full of hair…

"…Asuka…"

He spoke her name softly for fear that he might wake her. Turning his head back to stare at the ceiling, he began to reflect on the events that had led him here…

Up until a few months ago he had been living with his teacher until his father had sent for him, since then he had been made pilot of a giant machine to fight against strange beings, seemingly intent on destroying the world. If that had not been enough, in the past few days, a new pilot had arrived and immediately latched onto him as if he were her long lost lover. Ever since then, his life had grown increasingly strange, flashbacks assaulting him during the day and now, they were invading his dreams. He could not begin to understand what was happening to him, nor why they should be happening to him of all people…unsettled and uncertain he pushed his thoughts aside as he turned his thoughts to the German girl beside him, awaiting her awakening so he could visit the bathroom…

Asuka remained in the tight grip of a dreamless sleep; the fear that had so easily overcome her during Shinji's episode had finally evaporated the moment he had laid down beside her. Craving more of the warmth he radiated, she had pulled herself closer, arms and legs entangling with his, holding him in a lovers embrace. In the nights that had followed Third Impact, she had longed for this…even if she had been too foolish to realise it at the time. Even now a part of her could not help but wonder, how long would it be before they were torn apart again…

Beneath her, Shinji shifted slightly. His full bladder was quickly becoming painful and he desperately wished Asuka to move off him so he could visit the bathroom. Asuka's sleeping mind registered the shift in his position, recognising the fact her partner was awake prodded her towards wakefulness.

"…Uh…Shinji…"

He stiffened slightly at the sound of her voice. The tone was dark and sultry, the words uttered breathlessly. He felt anxiety rise within him as memories of the previous night returned to him. As the muscles across his chest began to tighten, Asuka found her position against it increasingly uncomfortable and after a few moments groggily raised her head to stare at him with bleary eyes.

"Shinji? What's wrong?"

Upon hearing her voice and realising she was now awake, he lowered his gaze to meet hers. Unfortunately due to the angle he was at when he looked down, he was given a clear view down the t-shirt she had worn to bed, rapidly discovering she had not worn a bra underneath…Trying to fight down a blush, he sought to clear his head and answer before she began to suspect something was amiss.

"N-nothing. J-just a little uncomfortable, that's all."

Asuka was fully aware of the show she was giving him, and minded not in the least. After all, hadn't she shown him far more the night preceding? It was then that she registered something else, the slight pressure on her inner right thigh. A grin crept across her face as the implications of this latest development flicked through her mind. For an instant, she considered taking it further and putting his present state to some use…that idea left as quickly as it came. She had no desire to trigger a repeat of the previous night's events. Noticing he had spaced out slightly, she decided to have some fun.

"Shinji-kun! Oh, Shinji-kun!"

His reaction was immediate, his hands clawing at the bedclothes as he tried to back away, all the while his eyes never straying from hers. After a few moments, finding he wasn't going anywhere soon, he admitted defeat and simply lays there, accepting his fate.

Gently, Asuka unwrapped her arms from around him and used them to push herself up his body until they were face to face. She could feel his breath tickling her face, the sensation triggering a memory of a kiss long ago…

She had just gotten home from a blind date, after much nagging, Hikari had convinced her to go out with the guy. The boy had been an absolute bore and she had left him waiting in line. On returning to the apartment she found only Shinji was home, Misato was still out. At the time she had been angry, she was sure that the purple haired major was out with Kaji and could not help but feel twinges of jealousy. She began to think about the things the adults would have been likely to do and slowly the though of them kissing entered her head.

She was stunned when an image of her and Shinji kissing flicked through her mind.

What the! I don't like the baka that way! 

Forcing down her initial shock and rage she began to analyse the thought more carefully.

Hmmm…I think it's because I spend so much time in his company…I better get this out of my system now before it becomes something else. Now how to approach him…ah!

"Hey Shinji, you wanna kiss me?"

Shinji immediately sat up spluttering slightly.

"Huh? What?"

She found herself unable to stop, a little bit of malice entering her voice as she asked.

"Kissing, you know. Have you ever done it?"

For a moment, Shinji's face looked blank before reddening slightly.

"Uh-huh."

She felt her anger rise at his reply. How dare an idiot like him have already been kissed when she…

"So let's do it!"

She forced down the emotions swirling inside her turning her attention back to her goal. She advanced upon him slowly only to have him back away.

"Uh!…Ugh!…But why?"

She felt her temper flare at his reply, if she hadn't known better she would have though she heard undertones of disgust.

"Because I've got nothing else to do."

She watched as the first flickers of rage licked at the corners of his eyes yet as soon as it came was sucked back into the void of his depression once more.

"Um…that's your reason…you're weird."

"Afraid to kiss a girl on the anniversary of your mom's death? Is she watching over you from up in heaven?"

Now the flames returned only this time they were far brighter and did not die.

"That's not it."

Pleased to have finally gotten a reaction out of him she pushed further, seeing if he would show her just a little more spine.

"Or are you scared?"

Now the flames raged there as his temper broke. For an instant, fear constricted her heart as she caught a glimpse of the rage that lay beneath. Despite her behaviour, he was still stronger than her and she knew in that instant there would be no one to save her…

"I'm not afraid! Pucker up!"

Shinji was standing now, his gaze firmly locked on her own. The fear dissipated and she felt her anger return.

'How dare he! How dare he make the great Asuka Langley Sohryu afraid!'

"Right…do you brush your teeth?"

"Yeah!"

"Then here I come!"

She advanced on him purposefully, determined to prove to herself she was not afraid. Their faces came together but before their lips could meet, she felt his breath tickling her face.

"Stop breathing, it's tickling me."

Shinji's eyes opened wide in surprise.

"Uh…ooh…wha?"

He was cut off mid sentence as Asuka gripped his nose and sealed his lips with her own…

The feeling was like nothing Asuka had ever imagined the soft flavour of his lips as she continued to kiss him. Small sounds of pleasure escape her throat as she sucked on his mouth drawing even greater pleasure. She hardly even noticed the fact that Shinji was not responding and instead, stood there almost rooted to the spot with his hands clenched at his sides. As the kiss continued Shinji slowly began to turn red as the blood rushed to the surface in order to try to account for the lack of oxygen in his lungs. Pen-pen waddled past the pair, looked up at the two before doing the penguin equivalent of a shrug and entering his freezer. By now, Shinji was turning blue from lack of air, finally unable to hold any longer he pulled away from Asuka and gasper for air leaving her standing there for a moment wondering what had happened…

_He pulled away from me!_

Was the one coherent though that entered her mind before her pride once more intervened, trying to save face after what just took place.

"Yeeeeagh!"

Asuka ran into the bathroom both to escape Shinji and to hide the tears of humiliation that threatened to flow. She drew a glass of water and began to gargle.

"Huh?"

She caught sound of confusion from the bathroom and a small smile began to creep onto her face at the thought.

"I should never kiss to kill time! Aggghhh! Uhhh!"

She then made further gargling noises, making sure that the point hit home. Had she thought for a moment longer she would have realised that he was running out of air and that may well have curbed her temper. As it was she had vowed never to get so close to him again, not after he had ruined her first kiss…

Returning to the present, she closed the distance between them and gently pressed her lip onto his…as quickly as she had done so she moved away, once more moving to meet his gaze. Now the fear had been replaced with confusion and a question unspoken.

Why? 

"For staying."

Without another word, she moved herself off him and climbed from the bed heading over to the bathroom and disappearing inside. For a moment, Shinji simply lay there, stunned until once more reality asserted itself…

Dammit! Now I really need to pee! 

Meanwhile, a rather grumpy Captain Misato Katsuragi was heading towards the room where the two teens were presently housed. She had fallen asleep at the monitor last night, only to wake up that morning and find all the security tapes were blank. She assumed that she must have forgotten to switch them on, after all she had gotten drunk that night, so pleased was she with her (and Kaji's) plan. Immediately she had begun to worry about her charges, or more specifically, what they had gotten up to…

Of course, that was not the only reason for her presently less that brilliant mood. Her former lover, Ryoji Kaji currently was walking along side her, trying to engage her in a conversation. Ever since he had shown up, she had not been able to rid herself of him, Asuka's comment on Over the Rainbow not helping at all. He had arrived in the small monitoring room just after she had woken up and made her discovery, two steaming cups of coffee held in his hands. She had accepted it grudgingly, both happy and unhappy with his intrusion. When she had left, he offered to accompany her and despite herself, she had accepted, hence why he was walking along side her now.

By now Kaji was getting extremely worried, his attempts to delay Misato all met with failure. Event his attempts to initiate a conversation were shot down, it seemed Misato would not be turned from her goal.

The night before he had entered the monitoring room to find Misato asleep against the controls. Chuckling softly, he had turned to leave until something on the monitor caught his eye…a completely naked Asuka stood before a shocked looking Shinji. He had watched, mesmerised as the naked girl advanced on the boy, watching the fear brimming in the boy's eyes. What happened next had him in shock, he had been chilled by the way Shinji's eyes had gone glazed. When Asuka had fled in tears he found himself once more able to move and idly wondered whether he should check on Shinji. He waited a moment more and was relieved to see the boy get up, seemingly ok.

Time passed and the two retreated to their beds. Shinji had crawled into his bed shortly after he had pulled himself from the floor, because of the angle Kaji could not tell if he was asleep or awake…Asuka meanwhile had exited the bathroom, clothed this time, and made her way to the other bed. Within moments of her breathing evening out, signifying she was no longer awake she had begun to twist about crying out in her sleep.

"…Mama!…Don't leave me Mama!…"

The same nightmares that had haunted her ever since he had known her. When he had first met her, she was no more that ten years old, he had been shocked to find such an adult façade on a child of her age. During the first days, he had found out about her nightmares, about her mother. He had comforted her then, perhaps that was where her crush on him had begun, as it seemed he had been the first man to treat her in such a way. He was glad that she seemed to have latched onto Shinji now, flattering as it was, having a girl less than half your age in love with you was trouble.

He was pulled from his thoughts when Shinji got up from his bed and moved over to the sleeping Asuka. He had watched as the boy gently shook her awake and then had ended up lying beside her, offering her comfort despite her earlier actions towards him. Once more he marvelled at the inner strength of the boy; the fact that despite the terrible fear he had shown before, despite the strange darkness that had gripped him, he still would comfort her. Smiling softly at the now sleeping pair he reached over to the controls and selected erase, it wouldn't do for people to see what had happened there, he knew there would be too many questions. Gently he flicked the controls off, disabling the monitor. Taking one last look at the sleeping Misato, he turned his attention back to the now silent screen one more time.

"Please take care of her Shinji."

With that, he exited the room silently, a small smile still on his face.

Shinji groaned slightly, he was still rather tired, even now. The softness of the bed was constantly beckoning him back towards the land of dreams yet his full bladder kept him awake. He only hoped that Asuka wouldn't be in the bathroom for much longer he was shocked when the door suddenly slid open and Misato stepped inside followed by Kaji. He watched as she glanced round the room, most likely looking for his read headed roommate. Finally, she turned to face him for the first time and he was at once struck by how tired she looked, dark circles hung beneath her eyes while her face seemed overly pale.

"Where's Asuka?"

As if on cue the red head in question chose that moment to emerge from the bathroom, a towel wrapped around her still wet hair. At first, she did not notice the presence of the two adults and quietly walked over next to were Shinji lay before placing a gentle kiss on his cheek.

"Ehem."

Asuka turned around, finally noticing Misato and Kaji. She locked gazes with Misato, daring the older woman to comment on what she had just seen. Shinji took this opportunity to slide off the bed and make a dash for the bathroom before anyone could stop him. Once inside he quickly locked the door, happy to be safe from Misato's wrath…for now.

"Asuka, you and I have to have a serious talk. Please accompany me to the training room, now."

"But what about Shinji?"

Misato indicated to where Kaji sat reclining.

"I'm sure Mr Ryoji can bring him along. No more excuses. Come. Now."

Asuka simply sighed in defeat. Misato may have won this round but the next one would be hers…reluctantly she followed the purple haired captain from the room and down the corridor.

As soon as he was sure, they were out of earshot, Kaji was up from his seated position, moved over to the bathroom, and knocked on the door.

"Shinji?"

There was a moment's silence before the boy replied.

"Uh, Mr Kaji?"

"Shinji…I need to talk to you for a moment."

"Ok."

He emerged from the bathroom, obviously relieved but somewhat apprehensive as he wondered what the older male wanted to speak with him about. Kaji paused for a moment wonder how to phrase it, sighing heavily, he decided to come out and say it.

"Shinji, I saw what happened between you and Asuka last night."

At once Shinji's eyes widened as the impact of those words hit home.

"I…I…"

He struggled to speak, desperately searching for some way of explaining. Kaji could not help but smile at the boy's antics; quickly he moved to reassure Shinji, not wanting to worry him any more than he had too.

"Don't worry about it, I'm not going to tell anyone. Don't tell Misato but I erased the tapes as well so no-one should find out about your little 'episode'."

Shinji sighed in relief thanking Kaji profusely who simply waved it off claiming it was, "No problem."

Without further comment, they departed the room, heading off to the training area where Misato and Asuka were waiting.

"I want you to tell me everything that happened between you and Shinji last night, all the details."

Misato and Asuka were stood in the middle of the training room facing one another. Asuka stood with her hands pressed firmly against her hips, while Misato stood with her arms folded under her breasts meeting Asuka's gaze.

"And why exactly should I tell you?"

"Because I am your commanding officer and guardian. I am responsible for your welfare and to ensure that you are able to pilot. What would happen if you got pregnant?"

For a moment Asuka was silent, sure, she wanted to be with Shinji but she had not considered the consequences. What would happen if she did get pregnant? Would she really want to bring up a child in this environment? In addition, what would happen if they were unable to prevent Third Impact…the risks were simply too great.

"We didn't have sex Misato…"

The lavender haired captain breathed a sigh of relief…that was until Asuka continued.

"…yet."

Her jaw dropped.

"Don't worry, we'll use protection. Like you said, I can't afford to get pregnant now can I?"

Misato was speechless. For a few moments, she simply stood there doing a very convincing impression of a gold fish, her mouth opening and closing, but now words coming out. Finally, once she pulled herself together she was about to chew Asuka out but it was that moment that Shinji and Kaji chose to arrive.

The two of them walked in an uncomfortable silence, Shinji was still trying to get over the fact that Kaji had seen what happened between him and Asuka while the older male was searching for a way to breach the subject once more.

"Shinji…"

"Yes?"

"Thank you for looking after Asuka."

Shinji turned to the older man, surprised.

"But…I didn't really do anything…"

He trailed off slowly, sadness flickering in his eyes.

"Shinji, it took a lot of courage to comfort her like that…especially after earlier."

He paused for a moment searching for the right words.

"I want you to look after her, for me. She's kinda like the daughter I never had, you know?"

Shinji simply nodded, unsure what to say. Kaji smiled at him once again, despite the fact he had only known the boy for a little over three days he was beginning to take a liking to him, coming to think of him as a younger brother or son.

Finally, they arrived at the training room to find Misato and Asuka staring at one another, the latter grinning widely while the former seemed to be just recovering from a major shock.

"Pardon me ladies but are we interrupting?"

Kaji's comment instantly drew both females attention. Asuka turned to look at Shinji, that same grin plastered across her face, Shinji could not help but feel a little scared. Meanwhile Misato was now glaring at Kaji, displeased that he had interrupted her.

"Asuka, we'll talk later. Shinji, come over here please."

Shinji did as he was told and moved as Misato directed to stand next to Asuka.

"The enemy shares one mind with two bodies, so it's vital you two learn to move in unison. Memorising an attack pattern based on music is the quickest way to master perfect harmony. We've only got four days left, remember?"

The two simply nodded before taking up their positions. Kaji walked over to the Hi-Fi and put in the music before hitting play. As the upbeat tune flooded from the various speakers around the room, the two pilots began their training…

Two minutes later they stopped, Misato, and Kaji both simply stood there in awe. Shinji and Asuka had moved in near perfect harmony, and on their first try. There had been moments when Shinji faltered slightly but Asuka had slowed her pace to match his and so the synchronization had been maintained. Smiling broadly at her charges, Misato congratulated them heartily before offering to take them to lunch. Kaji of course took that opportunity to say he was starving and Shinji invited him along, much to Misato's disappointment.

Shortly after the four of them departed heading towards the Nerv cafeteria.

In the office of the supreme commander of Nerv, Commander Gendo Ikari and Sub Commander Kozo Fuyutski were watching something on a large screen. The screen itself was divided into two, the first half showing the feed from the Eva cages where Unit-01 was held. The second displayed the feed from the pilot's room the previous night; despite Kaji's attempts at erasing the evidence, the Commander had a backup system secretly installed. He frowned slightly when he noticed the way Unit-01's eyes lighting up coincided with his Shinji's 'episode'.

"Ikari…what could it mean?"

"I don't know professor, but rest assured I intend to find out…"

_Chapter preread by That Other Guy_


	7. No:7

**No: 7 – Two Halves One Whole**

_Disclaimer: I do not own Evangelion or any of the characters they are the property of their respective creators. Please be aware that no profit is being made from this work of fan fiction._

As Misato and Kaji walked ahead of them, Asuka tried to keep herself from stepping in front of them and leading the way, reminding herself that in this reality she would never have been to Nerv Japan before and thus should not know her way around. If she were to let something like that slip, then it might lead to questions about her behaviour with Shinji, and eventually to other things… thing that she did not want to think about. Instead, she kept pace beside Shinji, watching him out the corner of her eye as he walked silently along the hallway. Whenever she closed the distance too much he would quickly step away, trying to keep a constant distance between them, each time he moved away, Asuka felt a small flare of pain in her chest, reminding her of when he had killed himself…

He seemed pleased by the progress the pair had made in their training, obviously not expecting Asuka to slow down for him when he hesitated slightly. It was strange, it almost felt as if he had this before, gone through this same training despite the fact he knew he had never met her before their encounter on the boat that day. He still could not fathom her actions, the fact that she acted as if they had known each of for a long time when in reality it had only been a few days. Perhaps a part of him relished the attention she was giving him, for the first time in his life a girl, an attractive girl no less, was paying him attention, something at which even the most introverted male could not help but feel pride. Still, that did not explain the phantom pains in his chest, right over his heart, that surfaced when she was too close.

"Shinji."

Her voice had called him from his thoughts, causing him to pause for a moment, to regard her face. He saw worry in her eyes, flickers of some unknown pain and for an instant, he wanted to reach out to her, to offer her comfort as he had done when the nightmares came. Yet, the pain held him back, dissolving almost entirely when he drew back his hand. When he spoke his words were confused and uncertain but still he tried his best to show her a brave face, that he was not afraid of her, that he did not want her to go away, simply that he was not yet ready for her to be so close.

"Y-yes?"

"The training is going well, isn't it?"

He paused once again, fumbling for the right words to say. As best he could tell it seemed to be rather successful, they had mirrored the moves almost perfectly and despite his prior reservations he allow himself to grin slightly.

"Yes…it is."

She laughed gently at his reply; comforted by his grin, by the fact he was trying to reassure her. In that one moment she recalled how much she had missed seeing that rarest of smiles upon his face.

"Hey, if we keep going at this rate then perhaps Misato will let us go and fight the Angel before the five days are up, take it out before it's back up to full strength."

Of course Misato chose that moment to cut in on their conversation, breaking the flow and allowing a lot of the tension that had dissipated to seep back in.

"Asuka, just because the two of you did well the first time doesn't mean it will be the same way all the other times. We are going to keep doing the drills after lunch, maybe if you do as well the next few times I might consider speaking to the commander about it."

This signalled the end of the conversation as the four of them entered the cafeteria, both Asuka and Shinji lost in their thoughts. Both were considering Misato's words, but for very different reasons. Shinji, because he still had no desire to fight again, his only reason for doing this simply to earn the respect of his father and perhaps because a tiny part of him knew it was the right thing to do. Asuka's motive was far more personal, her desire to pilot Eva was driven by a desperate need, to keep from losing him again. Already things had started to change, events were not progressing as she remembered them, there had been times before when he had looked death in the face, were one of those to change only slightly…she could not even bear to consider the result.

The two of them regarded the food with partial attention, not really interested in the food on offer so their reactions were minimal when the two adults asked them what they would like. Perhaps somewhat concerned by the behaviour of their charges and for a moment forgetting their own agendas, the pair took a moment to confer silently, looking to the other to come up with a plan. Asuka noticed this, realising that her behaviour must be worrying them and at once put on the mask she had worn for so long, shifting a smile onto her face before moving quickly to catch Shinji by the arm before the boy could realise what was going on. She began to pull him in the opposite direction, towards the seating area. She paused for a moment; turning back to the adults to tell them what was going on.

"We'll go and find a table."

Before anyone could object, Asuka pulled Shinji quickly away and into the main body of the cafeteria. As it happened it was well past the normal lunchtime and as such most of the cafeteria was empty, save for a few techs and engineers dotted about here and there. None of them look up as the two teenagers passed, Asuka dragging a reluctant Shinji, who despite his discomfort at Asuka's hold on his arm forced himself not to pull away, as Asuka led him over to a table in the corner. She eased him into the booth before sliding in after, preventing him from leaving. He fidgeted slightly, still uncertain about her proximity but since she had released his arm and was not acting overly familiar again he didn't find it too bad.

He spent a few moments simply watching her from the corner of his right eye, seeing another side of her once again, and finding himself strangely attracted to her despite the other feelings that haunted that back of his mind. An image arose unbidden from the depths of his memory, a place that looked like Misato's apartment, Asuka was in front of him, her lips pressed over his, her fingers pinching his nose, halting his breath. Then, the world faded only to be replaced by another, a darker place with a sky the colour of fresh blood, an naked Asuka writhed and wriggled atop his nude body, revelling in the pleasures of the flesh. Not understand these things, thinking them dreams or desire he shook himself free of them, focusing instead on the task they shared.

It was then the adults arrived, bearing trays of food for the four of them. Not knowing what the children had wanted they had done their best, choosing things they hoped their charges liked. The food was accepted graciously and the four began to eat in silence, none willing to be the first to break the silence. When at last the meal was finished, they carried their trays over to the receptacles before pausing for a moment at the exit. It was Misato who finally broke the silence, informing the children of what they had already expected.

"Ok, back to the training room you two. You did reasonably well this morning but I want a repeat performance before I even consider talking to the commander."

The two nodded before following the adults back to the training room and resuming their movements.

The training continued for the remainder of the afternoon and long into the evening. As the hours passed the two of them continued to show the same performance, matching one another's moves time and again. When they finished the final session, Misato grudgingly agreed that if they were to continue like this tomorrow then she would speak with the commander regarding an advancement of their mission timetable. This had cheered the pair somewhat and they had journeyed to the cafeteria for the second time that day in a more buoyant mood. They ate a brief meal before being escorted back to their room and locked in for the night. At once a subtle tension had settled over them, Shinji clearly recalling the events of the previous night and torn between simply allow her to sleep with him from the outset or sleeping alone, counting on the fact that the nightmares would not visit her again.

He continued to ponder as she disappeared into the bathroom to shower and change, barely noticing when she returned to the room, this time unlike before she was dressed for bed, obviously not willing to attempt a repeat of the night before given his reaction that time. Seeing he was lost in thought she approached him quietly, closing the distance till they were only inches apart. She paused for a moment, not willing to close the gap and risk setting him off again with a kiss, instead she simply was content to watch him, to trace the counters of his face with her eyes. Still, it did little to ease the need that sat like a lead weight in the pit of her stomach, she wanted him, needed him, to feel his warmth once again…but for now at least that was not possible, this time he would love her of his own free will.

Shinji finally surfaced from his thoughts sufficiently to notice Asuka's proximity. He had only a moment to realise that she was not trying to kiss him before he tumbled backwards following his reflexive movement away. He fell from the bed landing hard against the floor, his back taking the brunt of the impact. Somewhat sore he looked up into the concerned face of Asuka before managing to grin sheepishly at his clumsiness. She calmed at seeing he was ok, before offering him a hand that he hesitantly accept before being pulled to his feet. Once more the two were very close to one another, again Shinji found his thoughts brought back to what he had been pondering before.

"Um…Asuka…do you…"

_Damn it, why does this have to be so hard._

He struggled to find the words and the courage to speak them.

"What is it Shinji?"

"Do you want to sleep here…with me…in case the nightmares come back I mean!"

She smiled at him, pleased that he had asked her rather than forcing her to take matters into her own hands. It was sign that perhaps he was becoming a little more comfortable around her, despite his reaction a moment before. She nodded in agreement, standing up from the bed and allowing him to pull back the covers and slip inside before following suit and lying down beside him. Even as she settled next to him she could feel the tension in his body, a clear indication that it would be unwise to try and go any further tonight. Instead she settled for leaning her head carefully upon his chest, falling asleep listening to the rhythmic beating of his heart.

When they woke the next morning it was the to the sound of alarms screaming, at once Asuka had bolted upright, her mind a tangle of confused thoughts and memories.

_It's too soon! This can't be happening! _

But still it was, the Angel had awaken after little more than a day and was already resuming its journey towards Tokyo-3. Misato and Kaji were already at the door, screaming at the two to wake up, telling them that they must come now. Awash with uncertainty Asuka turned to look at Shinji, his eyes open yet there was no consciousness behind them, and they were empty and blank. She screamed, the full horror of his dead eyes looking up at her, the same eyes she had looked into once before…she woke with a start, the room wrapped in darkness. Beside her Shinji lay sleeping soundly, the rise and fall of his chest barely visible in the darkness. The last vestiges of the dream still clinging to her mind she moved closer to Shinji, pressing the length of her body against him, feeling his warmth spread into her, reassuring her. She began to allow herself to drift off once again, her arms tightly wrapped around him, making sure he could not leave her side.

When Shinji woke, it was to find Asuka far closer than she had been when he first fell asleep, her arms and legs tangled with his, preventing him from moving away. For a moment he felt a sense of deja vu, this had been almost the same position they had been in the previous morning. The only difference lay in the fact that this time he did not need to pee…although a different and more embarrassing problem had just made itself known. Hormones, being the fickle things they are, had left him experiencing what was commonly known as morning wood, a condition he did not wish to be in when Asuka finally awoke. The problem was that as best as he could recall, the best way to get rid of this was to go take a pee, yet with Asuka wrapped octopus like around his body there could be no escape.

Sighing in defeat and settling as best he could with the twin discomforts he closed his eyes and was about to return to the land of nod when the voice returned.

_Shinji. You must come to me now Shinji, the beast awakens, now is the time to fight! _

Then the alarms screamed into life and Asuka began shifting and moving, causing them to tumble from the bed in a tangle of limbs.

Asuka woke to the sound of alarms; at once her mind came to full consciousness, fearing that her dream had become reality. When she looked down into Shinji's awake and surprised face she felt the tension flood out of her. Despite the fact that the Angel had come early, just as it had in her nightmare, Shinji was alive and well, perhaps it had simply been her imagination after all. Misato and Kaji had burst into the room then, screaming at the pair to get up and follow them. There was no time for the two to get dressed; they would need to change into their plug suits as soon as they reached the locker room. Managing to finally disentangle themselves, something Misato would query them about later, they followed the to adults down the halls towards their respective locker rooms as they prepared to go out into battle.

Already their Eva's were prepped and ready, the two children were immediately ushered to their entry plugs and slid inside. For the first time, Asuka took note of the third Eva that lay silent in the cages and her thoughts for a moment turned to its pilot. She had not seen Ayanami yet, despite the fact that in the previous timeline she had encountered the other girl more than once by now. In truth she was quite glad of this reprieve, images of the giant decaying head that had lay in the blood red ocean of the post Third Impact world had not yet left her mind. This had left her wondering what the other girl could be, for obviously she was not human, yet until now her thoughts had been of Shinji and him alone, not once considering this other mystery.

She vowed that she would find out some how, that perhaps by understanding the part the other girl had played in Third Impact, she might be able to stop it from happening,and prevent whatever nightmare had occurred so that she and Shinji might live their days out together in a world that was not robbed of all other life. For now, her attention was drawn back to the present, even as her Eva was being hastily loaded onto a transport ready to intercept the Angel before it could reach the city itself. They had no time to formulate a proper battle plan; this would all be on the spot improvisation. The only thing that was clear that together they must strike the two cores simultaneously or their attack would fail.

As the Eva's deployed upon the beach and had their power cables towed into position, the Angel once again split down the middle, reforming itself into two distinct forms. It seemed somewhat…shabby, as if its reconstruction was not complete yet it had sensed its impending doom and had struck out before it was ready. This became more evident when it struggled to fend off the twin attacks of the Eva's. They managed to tear into it a number of times, inflicting small wounds. At last they backed the two Angels who were one against the other and were about to land a final blow when it cried out in a voice that seemed to shake the very earth and forced back the two Evas. As Unit-01 crashed to the ground, both halves turned their attention onto Unit-02.

The moments that followed where a blur, Unit-01 had roared, as if responding to the Angel's exclamation before pushing itself from the crater it had made before advancing on the Angels. They turned to defend themselves, only to be stopped as the Evangelion's hands ripped into their chests, pulling the twin cores free and crushing them in its bare hands with a great roar of triumph. The command centre staff visibly relaxed, a disaster had been averted and the Angel was defeated. But, it was not over yet. Unit-01 began to advance on the recumbent Unit-02, its massive hands coiled about the throat of the second Eva and started to choke it as one would a human. The staff simply stared in shock until the commander's orders snapped them back to the present.

"Cut the power to Unit-01 immediately!"

The cable ejected from Unit-01 and the countdown began as they continued to watch as Unit-02 struggled against Unit-01. The internal camera in the entry plug of Unit-01 was hazy an intermittent, some unexplainable malfunction corrupting the signal. Still, they could make out Shinji screaming along with his unit, his eyes like two pools of darkness even as his hands seemed to move without his will.

Gendo watched the tousle silently.

_This is not in the scenario._

He thought with a small amount of irritation mingled with curiosity as Unit-01 finally fell silent in time with his son.

_AN: Ok, I know that took half of eternity to arrive but I would hope it was well worth the wait. None the less it may be a while again till the next, as I said in the previous update for one of my stories I am going to try a round robin with them, updating them in sequence. That means Juugo is next in line, Forgotten because of it's far longer chapters will be kept out of this loop as well as Another Time which remains on hold for now._

_Thank you for reading and a happy new year to you all._

_Till next time,_

_Hououza_

_PS. Extra thanks to my pre reader, That Other Guy, for jazzing up the final few words of the chapter_

_Chapter preread by That Other Guy_


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